Back in the 90’s
During the economic boom in the Japanese economy in the late 80’s through early 90’s, the Japanese aviation market thrived. But that economic boom didn’t last long. After the economic boom, a Japan went into a period of economic stagnation which is now known as the lost decade. Airlines also started to cancel routes due to the unprofitably. In this kind of economic situation Fukuoka, a city the comparably the size of Charlotte had a route which Delta operated a nonstop flight from Fukuoka to Portland, Oregon connecting on to Atlanta on a MD-11. Back then Delta had a hub in Portland, but now Portland lost it’s hub status. Currently, the only major sign of Portland’s former Delta hub status are a few cities in Europe and a flight to Tokyo. Fukuoka, now has almost no transcontinental flights. So, lets go back into the 90’s!
Flight Details
- Aircraft: Delta MD-11
- Flight Time: 9 hours and 20 minutes
- Cruise Altitude: 37,000 ft
Took off Fukuoka, very short for a heavy MD-11
Fukuoka, Japan
Mountains of Washington State, Mt. Rainer
and Mt. St Helens (Learn more about it here)
Landed at Portland International Airport
These routes are forgotten, and I’d wish to see more historic routes being flown more frequently. They’re not just fun, but historic. I think we should discover the past of commercial aviation too.
I plan on flying this route again sometime later.